New Nigerian Ruler Meets Western Diplomats

ByCompiledKashmira TumboliNovember 22, 1993

GEN. Sani Abacha, threatened with Western reprisals for halting Nigeria's long-promised return to democracy, met with US, British, and French ambassadors separately at his home on Saturday, state television reported.

Western countries condemned his Nov. 17 Army takeover, which ended a brief interlude of an unelected civilian government.

In one of the first signs of open opposition to General Abacha, Nigeria's 67 elected senators on Saturday swore not to surrender their seats in the newly outlawed federal legislature.

Abacha dissolved the federal legislature, the 30 state governments, and all local councils and banned all political activity. Washington, London, and Paris have all said they may impose or tighten economic sanctions to press for an end to military control. Equatorial Guinea polls

Equatorial Guineans went to the polls yesterday for the first time in a quarter century, but with the vote under the tight control of the country's dictator, President Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo.

The electoral law practically ensures victory for Mr. Obiang's supporters in the 80-seat legislature. Opposition parties urged a boycott, and the United States called the election a sham.

The US has urged other countries to join in a joint response to what it termed the brutal government of President Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo. Togo postpones ballot

Togo's government has postponed next month's planned multiparty parliamentary elections for at least two weeks, bowing to one of the demands of opposition parties threatening to boycott the poll.

The government did not name a new date for the elections, originally scheduled for Dec. 19.

It was not known if opposition parties dropped their demands for a repealing of changes that Togo's ruler, Gen. Gnassingbe Eyadema, had made to the Supreme Court and a redrawing of electoral boundaries the opposition said were vague. They also sought more time to organize the campaigns and to gain guarantees of security for candidates running against the ruling party.